I've ended up doing a post like this every three years, so I thought it was high time for another one.
This weekend is Hall of Fame induction weekend, and you'll see people like David Ortiz, Tony Oliva and, begrudgingly, Jim Kaat get inducted into Cooperstown, and it'll be a wonderful celebration of baseball's best [and also Jim Kaat]. I'm always thinking about which players are the next to be selected to be enshrined at the Hall, and which players have the best cases as the crow flies. It's a very subjective process, but one that doesn't exactly have wrong answers.
So, since it's been three years since I last did this, I'm gonna go down all 30 teams and pick out the player with the strongest HOF case out of everyone. Some of these teams have easy candidates. Some...do not.
ANGELS: Mike Trout. There, folks, is an easy one. I think it's a little easier because Trout is having such a great season, and seeming to outdo the Ken Griffey comparisons by performing into his second decade, but with everything he accomplished in his 20s, this was a foregone conclusion.
ASTROS: Still Justin Verlander. Doing what he's doing at 40 is just icing on the cake, but the guy's had a hell of a career and he's still in peak form.
ATHLETICS: Elvis Andrus. There's not a ton of competition, but Andrus has been in the league since he was 20 years old, and has been a consistent defensive shortstop for some great teams. I don't think he's going to have much of an actual HOF case, but he's the best of a very young A's team.
BLUE JAYS: In a very young team, I'm going with George Springer, who was a standout for those excellent Astros teams, and is now a sharp point of leadership in Toronto. It remains to be seen if the rest of his career will match up, though.
BRAVES: This one very quickly became a race between Robinson Cano, Kenley Jansen and Charlie Morton. I ruled out Morton due to his first decade or so in the league being a bit uneventful [til he gets to Houston things are quiet], and then it was Cano and Jansen. The obvious edge should go to Cano for his excellent hitting 2B numbers, rivaling Jeff Kent...but there's also the HGH charges, the career drop-off, and the limping he's been doing lately. Meanwhile, Kenley Jansen has been a consistent closer for his entire career, has a World Series ring and will likely break 400 saves before his career is out. Therefore, I am giving it to Jansen.
BREWERS: Andrew McCutchen narrowly beats out Christian Yelich for having slightly less of a career drop-off post-MVP. Yelich's was a bit steeper, while Cutch has mellowed into a solid back-lineup bat that can get the job done if need be. Also, Cutch was an asset for so many different competitive teams. I want Yelich to outdo Cutch so badly, but I'm not sure if he will.
CARDINALS: ...I don't even know if I should fill this one. It's kind of a dick move to assume that only one member of this team is going to the Hall of Fame, isn't it? So okay, you limit yourself to three, you have Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. But then you leave out Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, both of whom have excellent HOF cases even now. There are FIVE viable answers for this category. And I don't think any of them are wrong. Ultimately, I think Waino has the weakest case of these five, but he's probably still gonna get in. Maybe not first ballot, but I think he's got a good shot. The other four, I think, are definites. Unless Arenado really screws the pooch.
CUBS: Am I really gonna say that Willson Contreras has lapped Jason Heyward in his full-career trajectory for this spot? I think I am. Mostly because I'm not sure if I'll be able to put Contreras here in a week and a half.
DIAMONDBACKS: Madison Bumgarner, ultimately. I don't think the last 5 or so years have done him any favors, but he still has more of a case than a lot of these guys. I hope that Marte and Gallen can have strong full career stats, but until then, it's gotta be MadBum.
DODGERS: Clayton Kershaw, obviously. Like the Cardinals, maybe it's a disservice to say there's only one, cause Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel have great cases, but...I mean, Kershaw's an absolute legend, and he's still serving some pretty peak-Kershaw stuff.
GIANTS: Evan Longoria. I honestly wonder what the hell the sportswriters are going to make of his Hall of Fame case when he retires. Incredible player, helped the Rays get to a World Series, a perennial star for them and the Giants, but the man could never stay healthy, and that is gonna probably cost him the nod. Still, I think he has the most accolades of anybody on this team, even Brandon Crawford.
GUARDIANS: Another very young team, but this spot goes to Jose Ramirez. The fact that I'm pretty sure about this at 29 says a lot. Again, it's all down to the rest of his career, but he's been wonderful for the Tribe ever since the 2016 season, and he's become a reliable leader for a lot of young players. I hope he becomes the next one-team hero like Gwynn or Puckett.
MARINERS: Well, I guess since Justin Upton just elected free agency, I have to go with Carlos Santana. Longest tenured MLB-er left on the team with the most career accolades. Robbie Ray would have gone here had I seen a bit more long-term stability.
MARLINS: Jorge Soler. The man led the league in home runs in a season and has two World Series rings, and that's more than a lot of Marlins have right now. Who else was I gonna put here? Billy Hamilton? The hope is that in three more years I can put Sandy Alcantara here...that is, if he's still in Miami then.
METS: Max Scherzer. Not a particularly hard one. If it wasn't for him, I'd put deGrom again, but...with all these injuries, the Hall is becoming less of a certainty.
NATIONALS: Nelson Cruz, also not particularly difficult. It will be interesting to see what happens when Cruz goes up for induction. I think he's a hell of a hitter, but is that enough for some voters? Will the HGH allegations hurt him?
ORIOLES: Out of everybody here, it's Trey Mancini. Longer-tenured, yeah, but also a lot of recent success as he begins his thirties, which is an indication of longevity. Not a surefire case, as he's still kind of lacking in some categories, but has more than a lot of this very young O's team.
PADRES: Manny Machado. Not hard, especially. A few close ones, like Hosmer and Darvish, but Machado already has a 49 career WAR, and he's showing no signs of slowing down. I kinda have to put him here.
PHILLIES: ...I did have to check here and see if there were any options that were more valid than Bryce Harper, because that's your easy answer right there. And there really weren't. So I don't feel as bad about this one. Bryce Harper has 2 MVPs and is an exceptional hitter, and I can't wait for the Phillies to get him back.
PIRATES: Oof. I guess Jose Quintana, who has the most career stats, and the most great seasons to fall back on, but man is this a tough one.
RANGERS: Corey Seager. Like Soler, I have to go with career accomplishments, and a Rookie of the Year, an NLCS MVP and a World Series MVP by 28 is pretty damned good. Also, he's still in a pretty good spot career-wise, and is one of the main contributors for this Rangers team.
RAYS: Corey Kluber. Nobody else on this team has 2 Cy Youngs. Honestly should have been 3 if it weren't for Rick Porcello and, honestly, Verlander. But yeah, what a career he's had, even if it might be a bit too short for a lot of HOF voters.
RED SOX: Injuries aside, right now it is Chris Sale. If he continues to be this snakebitten for the next few years, he is in danger of being lapped by Xander Bogaerts, Trevor Story or Rafael Devers. But as of right now, he's got some pretty nice stats, and he needs to get back on track to conserve what he was accumulating last decade.
REDS: Well, seeing as he's at the top of the post, I have to say Joey Votto. Joey Votto is baseball, a lot like Willie Mays is baseball and Ozzie Smith is baseball. One of those players you can't help but love. Also, mostly because I want to see the people of Cooperstown try to put a TikTok on display.
ROCKIES: It's Kris Bryant at the moment, but he is in danger of losing this spot if he doesn't have a career stretch worthy of his Cubs years. I loved him in Chicago, and now he's seeming a lot more human and a lot more tangible, and he could make the Rockies regret picking him up for all that money.
ROYALS: Zack Greinke. Not a particularly hard one. If he wasn't there, it'd be Salvador Perez easily, but Greinke is a first-balloter and an all-timer cerebral fireballer.
TIGERS: Miguel Cabrera. I've put him here in all three of these, because it was a given even in 2016.
TWINS: I am going to surprise some people by saying Sonny Gray. Taking the Yankees years out of the equation, Sonny Gray has been a wonderfully consistent starter for some excellent, competitive teams, and while I could have put Carlos Correa or Byron Buxton, I felt like Gray had a bit more career accomplishments at the moment. Maybe if I was in my right mind, I would have put Correa.
WHITE SOX: I think I have to put Jose Abreu here, and even if Johnny Cueto is fierce in opposition, Jose Abreu has been a wonderfully consistent hitter, and has been a constant for the White Sox from 2014 until now. The man has an MVP, a Rookie of the Year, and will hit 250 home runs this year probably. That level of production doesn't come around too often.
YANKEES: ...lots of candidates here. I could honestly go with anyone of Anthony Rizzo, Gerrit Cole, Aaron Judge, Josh Donaldson, Aroldis Chapman and D.J. LeMahieu...but I will instead go with Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton's going to hit his 400th home run in his age-33 season most likely, and has a large probability of going for 500. Those injury-prone years slowed him down a bit, but his offensive production in his first decade of service was incredible, and he's already led the league in homers twice [would have been thrice if not for that injury stopping him cold in 2015]. I think he's got the best case of any of this group, and that's saying something.
So yeah, a lot of bold words. Not all of these guys may get in, but they've got a lot of potential right now. See you in 2025.
Coming Tomorrow- Ironically, someone else I mentioned in this post
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